CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO – Get Free Report) and Goosehead Insurance (NASDAQ:GSHD – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares CNO Financial Group and Goosehead Insurance”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| CNO Financial Group | $4.44 billion | 0.88 | $404.00 million | $2.86 | 14.40 |
| Goosehead Insurance | $314.51 million | 8.09 | $30.43 million | $1.13 | 61.09 |
Risk & Volatility
CNO Financial Group has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Goosehead Insurance has a beta of 1.42, suggesting that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings for CNO Financial Group and Goosehead Insurance, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| CNO Financial Group | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Goosehead Insurance | 1 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2.31 |
CNO Financial Group presently has a consensus target price of $43.60, suggesting a potential upside of 5.87%. Goosehead Insurance has a consensus target price of $99.00, suggesting a potential upside of 43.42%. Given Goosehead Insurance’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Goosehead Insurance is more favorable than CNO Financial Group.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
95.4% of CNO Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of CNO Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 37.8% of Goosehead Insurance shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares CNO Financial Group and Goosehead Insurance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| CNO Financial Group | 6.41% | 16.63% | 1.13% |
| Goosehead Insurance | 8.55% | -34.60% | 8.55% |
Summary
Goosehead Insurance beats CNO Financial Group on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About CNO Financial Group
CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops, markets, and administers health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, insurance products, and financial services for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. It offers Medicare supplement, supplemental health, and long-term care insurance policies; life insurance; and annuities, as well as Medicare advantage plans to individuals through phone, online, mail, and face-to-face. The company also focuses on sale of voluntary benefit life and health insurance products for businesses, associations, and other membership groups by interacting with customers at their place of employment. In addition, it provides fixed indexed annuities; fixed interest annuities, including fixed rate single and flexible premium deferred annuities; single premium immediate annuities; supplemental health products, such as specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity products; and long-term care plans primarily to retirees and older self-employed individuals in the middle-income market. Further, the company offers universal life and other interest-sensitive life products; and traditional life policies that include whole life, graded benefit life, term life, and single premium whole life products, as well as graded benefit life insurance products. It markets its products under the Bankers Life, Washington National, and Colonial Penn brand names. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.
About Goosehead Insurance
Goosehead Insurance, Inc. operates as a holding company for Goosehead Financial, LLC that engages in the provision of personal lines insurance agency services in the United States. The company offers homeowner’s, automotive, dwelling property, flood, wind, earthquake, excess liability or umbrella, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, general liability, property, and life insurance products and services. As of December 31, 2023, it operated 1,415 franchise locations. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Westlake, Texas.
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